Today, the competitive Halo community finally received the clarity, and closure they’ve been waiting for – after months of rumors and speculation regarding the upcoming Halo 5 HCS Finals at DreamHack Atlanta, this November, being the final Halo 5 HCS tournament.
Well, it turns out those rumors were in fact true, as today 343i finally lifted the curtain on the future of competitive Halo and their plans, at least until Halo Infinite is out and ready. The announcement got straight to the point, confirming that the Halo 5 HCS finals at next months DreamHack will in fact be the final Halo 5 esports tournament for the Halo Champion Ship series. Despite Halo 5’s journey coming to the end on the HCS, the company also revealed what we can expect in the very near future in regards to Halo esports, as it seems they will be testing the waters and ultimately offering something for everyone – at least up until the arrival of Halo Infinite.
Moving forward, supporting grassroots community efforts within the competitive Halo scene seems to be a major focal point going forward. 343 realizes that while the HCS goes on break to reconfigure itself in preparation for Halo Infinite, the other Halo titles most certainly still have competitive potential, and that’s where the community comes in. The company will soon be unveiling a grassroots support program that will aimed at tournament organizers, content creators, etc across various Halo titles. Not only this, but it also seems like Microsoft tournaments for not only Halo 5, but also the Halo MCC will become much more prevalent moving forward, with Halo 3 in particular being a major focus, depending on it’s turnout and reaction at the DreamHack ATL 2v2 event.
Halo Infinite was the final focal point the company touched on in the announcement, and while we didn’t receive any crazy announcements about the game, when we can expect it, or even what they have in store regarding it’s competitive elements – they did state the Halo esports team is working hard alongside the development team to truly deliver something special.
All in all, the competitive Halo community has quite a handful of options going forward, up until the release of Halo Infinite. Unlike many other competitive video game scenes, Halo has a rich history, and even still – a dedicated fanbase for a good handful of it’s entries; and with roughly all of it’s entries available to play online, and via LAN through the Halo MCC – we could easily see an esports revival of some of the classic, fan favorite Halo titles moving forward. It’s really up to the community. With more information soon to be revealed during DreamHack Atlanta in regards to the Grassroots program, it will be interested to see exactly what the Halo esports team at 343 will be offering to help kick things off for the community. I am looking forward to hearing about it, and reporting back to you all.
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